Two thousand arms was all it took,
Two thousand hands that shoved and shook
A thousand trees all full of fruit
To make them give up all their loot.
A hundred thousand fruits all fell
On down a thousand wishing wells
To wake the waiting wishes there
And shake them all up in the air.
Two thousand arms, a thousand hearts,
Hugged tight each wish a bit too hard
To be sure each one of them knew
It did not matter where they flew
Or what they gave, or what they grew,
Or who they saved, or made turn true,
But that each knew that they were worth
More than the moment on the earth
When they all did what a wish does,
That each one mattered just because.

This is the fifth collection of children’s poems posted to this site! If you want to see which poems are included in this collection just scroll down. These are poems 401 through 500.

Thank you for reading!

Click here to get Life, Magic, Mischief: Volume 5 now!

She was queen of the morning
And king of the night,
The cloud crown of the mountain
Who went down to fight
The shadows of shame
That splashed on the bright
Dreamers of flame
Building stars up to light
The way through the peril
Of purpling heights
And brighten home’s path
For the twilight knights.

He was hopelessly hopeful,
Left home with a boat full
Of sunniest rays
That kept him quite floatful
On a sea of dreadful dismay.

He was hopelessly hopeful
In a way that was boastful
To the foolish fear of the day,
So much that even the ghostful
Found rainbow growing into their gray.

He was hopelessly hopeful,
A fine treasure most toastful
For many a seed still in clay.
He was hopelessly hopeful
I’m haplessly happy to say.

(Read part I and part II.)

So you’re the beastly boss?
You worked up to the top?
You scared and chased and lost
It all to run the ops.
All you cut now is costs
And tend the beast box shop.
They tell you cash is king,
I say king don’t beat beast.
Lift your long lifeless wings,
Wake hackles from their peace,
Rip out a roar that rings
That beasts are not for lease!
Go open every box!
Free every beast that’s here!
Let stand now no more locks
To keep in beastly fears!
I’ve cancelled all your talks!
The beast has reappeared!

Illustrated by DALL-E in the style of William Blake.

It’s a tricky thing when you’re a wish come true.

The stars are always watching you.
Fish learn to fly for just a view.
Trouble wants you in its zoo.
Joy jumps in as a clue
To the special kind of brew
Of one among the wished up crew.

What a wonder to be a wish come true!
Tell me what it’s like.

The difference between
Is the difference I need
More than the difference beyond.
It’s the difference I mean
When speaking of deed
In acts long done and gone.
The ages of queens
Rose on the seeds
Of a restless, sailing dawn.
Seas of grudgeable greens
Saw all their waves freed
To splash on and on and on.
The difference between
Is the difference I need
More than the difference beyond.

There was an old saint of October
Who invited Halloween over,
For thirty long days
He heaped highest praise
Trying to win Halloween for October.

But Halloween is not easily won,
It demands a frightening hunt,
So that saint donned a mask
With horn, tusk and a task
To capture that holiday haunt.

He trapped Halloween in a pumpkin
And every year since then someone
Must cut it out
With a curdling shout,
Carving a grumpy, grim or glum grin.

“A cookie jar’s not safe enough
To keep these hungry people out!
We need a smart and clever jar,”
Plum said, with something in her mouth.

Trill pulled on his tongue
Till his thoughts were sprung
And running along beside him

So his half head
Had room instead
For the whole sky and a wide whim

That came from the east
To fill on the feast
His thoughts had won for all

Then sank in the west
Of Trill’s open chest,
His heart gone for one more brawl

With the toes of his feet
Who’d suffer defeat
For where their soul would go

So long as it meant
Wherever Trill went
He went there full and whole.